It was his greatest creation.

He surveyed the landscape of his megaship. The platform and the robots atop it stretched beyond his range of vision. The glare of the lighting made it nearly impossible to see the stars. He counted forty robots of all sizes and strength on the platform. There were hundreds more in the interior of the ship, hidden away in corridors and deceptively empty lab rooms. Eighty-seven machine guns were at the ready, prepared to shoot at the slightest hint of movement.

Eggman, for the first time in what seemed like years, was proud. This was the largest self-sustaining carrier ship he had ever built. Its metallic frame, stretching hundreds of feet in length and berth, covered a wide range of the atmosphere and obstructed the view of (and destroyed, some intentionally, as he was feeling a particularly strong wave of trigger-happy euphoria) satellites. It was the largest carrier ship to survive in space, without the threat of atmospheric flame or the icy clutch of the stratosphere damaging it. The space colony ARK could not compare.

This was his creation. He had worked, tirelessly, for weeks. He had put forth effort as he had not had in many months. Certainly, his robots had helped with the assembly. But who had built them in the first place? It was rare when Eggman experience a sense of pride in creating something from his own hands, which did not experience when he took numerous shortcuts to build his inventions on time or when he built them at the expense of hundreds of people or hedgehogs.

Eggman, in a rush of good-feeling, threw back his hands and laughed. The back of his arms brushed against the surface of the wall in the control room where he was seated. It was rather tight in here, he realized. He probably should have thought about including more space when he had laid out the blueprints for the room. But it was of little importance. He had done it. It was built. His mind raced with the possibilities, the plans he could carry out with this carrier ship. As he knew, however, these plans would never be carried out. For now, however, he only needed to sit and wait. Wait for what he knew would come ev…

A blip on the screen flashed across the corner of his eye. The shock of it caused him to lean forward, looking first at the screen and then to the window in front of him. Sure enough, at the edge of the platform, stood… His surprise did not come from the fact that Sonic's arrival was unexpected, no, he had anticipated it. However, what he did not expect was that Sonic would arrive so…

Quickly!

The last hour had been non-stop activity. Sonic had felt the earth-shattering tremor as Eggman's thousand-ton carrier lifted off of the ground and flew into space. He ran, trying desperately to jump off as many story-high trees and buildings as possible to reach the carrier. His growing uncertainty of reaching the carrier was relieved when he found Tails searching for him on the Tornado. They flew together as high as they could without reaching the stratosphere, which both had learned from experience was a large no-no to the well-being of Tails' plane. From there, a satellite ship with two pilots offered to carry Sonic the rest of the way. Sonic spoke with the pilots, cracking jokes, but his heart was beating in his ears, his adrenaline in full tilt. Not in fear, but excitement. It was the first time in a while that Eggman had pulled off something this excessive. He was relieved that the two pilots were not fearful of the situation. The pilots were familiar with Eggman's schemes, having been rookies when Eggman had blasted the moon in half and had awakened the Shadow prototype, which had hurled itself into Earth. They knew what Eggman was capable of, but trusted from experience that the situation would be taken care of.

Once the carrier was in eye-shot, Sonic asked them to let him out. Despite the lessened sense of tension in this particular case, particularly with the weapon Sonic had in his arnesal, Sonic still wanted to keep the satellite and the pilots a good distance away from the carrier. They dropped him off on an idle satellite nearby. Sonic waved goodbye and watched as the satellite lowered itself to earth. Once out of sight, Sonic stared straight ahead. It was now or never. A string of satellites lead toward the nose of Eggman's carrier. Careful not to break them, Sonic leapt from satellite to satellite until he had reached the platform. He hopped on its metallic surface, and righted himself. After an hour of non-stop activity, of movement, of adrenaline, he let himself pause. It would be worth it. He could faintly see Eggman's frame from a round window at the top of the carrier. He waited. The robots had not yet detected his movement. Sonic watched through Eggman's body language as Eggman slowly realized that Sonic was there. Sonic watched as Eggman straightened up, threw his arm back, and pressed what seemed to be a button. This was it. The moment of silence was over.

A wave of missiles flew out of a compartment attached to a wall. Robots were lifted out from platforms hidden in the floor, metallic shields and gun up at the ready. Sonic had a second to react, which was more than enough time. He moved forward, destroying robots as they came up. He slid off of the metallic floor, pushing away a giant hand that threatened to crush him. He ran, the world becoming a blur. Instinct took over. He dodged, homing into robots, feeling the chill of metal on his quills. After destroying a group of robots, he looked up. Eggman had left the head of the carrier into a miniature egg-ship and then flew into the cockpit of a large robot. Sonic smirked.

This just got interesting.

He ran until he caught Eggman's eye. He grinned, taking delight at Eggman's snarl.

"Yer not getting away!" Eggman shouted. He pulled a lever. Missiles shot out of the robot's hand, which Sonic quickly dodged. The missiles flew into surrounding robots and parts of the ships, destroying them.

No matter, Eggman thought. He had another idea. He pressed a second lever. The robotic arm, made with a series of flexible metallic coils, stretched itself, and began to reach for Sonic.

Sonic noticed and began to pick up his speed. He ran around the edge of one of the window, hoping to shake it off, but no such luck. Maybe this wouldn't be so easy to outrun.

That's right, Eggman sneered, taking pleasure at the growing realization on Sonic's face. He had installed a tracking device in the robot to match Sonic's speed and location, and the robot's ability to stretch itself, to his knowledge, could stretch for miles.

Realizing that he had to take another approach, Sonic spotted a tunnel, covered in part by a missile port and a gang of robots. He plowed through both and entered the tunnel. Eggman, not to be deterred, followed Sonic into the tunnel with the robotic hand. The tunnel went farther than Sonic thought. He turned around, amused the find that the robotic hand had stopped stretching. He grinned. This was easier than he thought. Unfortunately, he turned away a second too soon. The robotic hand, extending another coil, stretched, capturing the hedgehog with its metallic fingers. Too surprised to cry out, Sonic felt himself being thrust backward, out of the tunnel, until he was lifted by the robot's hand to the level of the cockpit, where Sonic could clearly see the face and frame of the Doctor.

Sonic growled, moving his head defiantly. Sonic felt the grip tighten on the robot, its fingers beginning to dig into his flesh. Eggman grinned, knowing he now had the upper-hand. It was now or never, Sonic realized. He needed to move quickly. Sonic, taking as deep of a breath as he could with the metallic arm on his abdomen, closed his eyes. Silently reciting the incantation he learned from Knuckles, he willed the Chaos Emeralds forward. Once he felt the Chaos Emeralds' energy first from inside, then crackling into the air around him, he let himself go limp. This was why Eggman's ship was not a threat. This is why Sonic knew he and his world would be safe. He only needed to act quickly.

Eggman's reaction was predictable. Unbeknownst to him, his hand lessened its grip on the lever until he tightened it with a greater thrust. His mouth hung open, his words cracking, faltering. He realized just how tight the mini egg-ship was.

"B-but, … how"

Sonic had now absorbed the Chaos Emeralds' power, becoming Super Sonic. The golden aura outshining the metallic glare on the ship, the Chaos energy surrounding Super Sonic caused the robotic hand to explode. Now free, Sonic turned, his red eyes directed right toward Dr. Eggman.

Eggman immediately pressed a button, released the mini-plane from the head of the robot, and flew away.

"Gotta… go," he grunted.

Sonic did not pursue him. He had other things to do, first. He speared forward, throwing himself into the interior of the ship, through every hallway, until he reached the engine. Rushing through the engine and bringing himself out at lightning speed, he watched as the ship exploded. Unlike the space colony ARK, it was too far in space for the ship or its pieces to get close to the earth's atmosphere. And according to one of the pilots of the satellite, a crew would be coming in tomorrow to pick up any stray scrap metal. It could not have worked out better.

Now for Eggman: Sonic sped forward, barely making out Eggman's plane as it flew into a smaller carrier separate from Eggman's main ship. Sonic followed Eggman into the entrance. The carrier followed a straight path until Eggman made a sharp turn. Sonic, losing sight of him, made the same turn, but was unable to find him. | What he did find was another engine, which he did not hesitate to destroy. Once out of the ship, Sonic caught a glimpse of a gray edge of plane flying into the tower of a last carrier.

Why does Eggy need so many of these places? Sonic thought. Deciding to do rather than dwell on it, he followed Eggman into its cone-shaped entrance. Sonic was happy to find that he was gaining on Eggman. The doctor, in his panic, steered erratically, causing the egg-ship to bounce off of the walls. Sonic thrust himself forward, knocking into Eggman's egg-ship. The egg-ship ejected him. The force of the blow caused Eggman to fly upward, then fall onto the metal floor of what seemed to be a lab room. Sonic did not really care to look. He was too focused on watching Eggman's reaction. He had not seen Eggman have a temper-tantrum in a while. It would be a welcome treat. If Eggman decided to throw in a cussing fit, some stomps of his foot, or even rip out a part of his mustache, which Sonic had had the pleasure of watching after Sonic had destroyed the Egg Viper a few years ago, it would make the viewing experience all the better.

A small part of him, however, squirmed uncomfortably. He knew he didn't have the time to stand around and gloat. He needed to find a way to get Eggman back into the egg-ship so he could destroy the last carrier. Once he did that, he and Eggman would be forced to go back to earth, where Eggman would hopefully be caught and arrested by G.U.N. Sonic wondered if it would be better to leave Eggman in the carrier when he destroyed it, but immediately shook away the idea. He wanted absolutely no part of what could be Eggman's demise, feeling that if Eggman were ever destroyed, it would be by his own doing. Also, he felt that it would be more satisfying if Eggman were arrested than if he was martyred for his craft, so to speak.

He was jangled out of his thoughts by a loud cry. Eggman was on his knees, hands clasped together.

"Pl-please don't hurt me!"

This was not the reaction Sonic was expecting. Had he seen it before? Yes, but he thought at the destruction of Eggman's largest carrier to date he would see some steam, not crocodile tears. Anyway, Sonic decided to keep watching.

"I'll t-turn over a new leaf, I swear! Just give me a chance!"

A chance, huh? And when had that ever worked out?

This was too good of an opportunity to miss. A cocky smile spread across his face. What was a minute or two, anyway? Wouldn't it be worth it to rub it in his face, just a little?

"Well, this is new. Showing remorse, Eggman? If you played nice, I wouldn't have to break all of your toys."

A minute or two, as it turned out, was long enough. Eggman grinned, feeling the smooth surface of the button across his thumb, the button he had hidden in his sleeves, waiting for the moment they had reached this room. In order for the plan to be carried out, he had depended on predictability: he knew Sonic would follow him into space, that he would use the seven Chaos Emeralds to transform and to destroy each of his carrier ships. Eggman knew that if he hesitated on the third carrier and let himself be trapped that Sonic would stop. Eggman also knew that his plea for mercy would fuel Sonic's love for his insipid quips, and that alone would keep him in the room. Now that everything was in place, that Sonic's predictable behavior had brought him this far, Eggman knew that he could move on to the grand finale. No longer having to wait, no longer having to wedge himself into tight spaces. He could press the button.

Several things happened at that moment. Eggman pressed the button, which caused several lasers to lower from the ceiling and create a circle of pulsating, dark energy. The section of the floor Eggman was kneeling on rose in the air, allowing him to enter a cove with a window, separating himself from Sonic and the lasers. The force of the energy pulled Sonic into the center of the lasers.

It had happened so quickly Sonic had no time to react. He had thought for a moment he had glimpsed Eggman's sly grin, and alarms instantly rang in his brain. However, he had no time to process it. At blistering speed, he found himself thrust into the center of the room, surrounded by purple beams of energy. Sonic tried to escape, move his legs, but he found they were bound in place. He tried to move anything on his body, his hands, his fingers, but the energy seemed to take hold of any independent movement.

For a moment, he felt an uncharacteristically strong sense of unease, a sense of apprehension and insecurity that made Sonic want to curl into a ball, into himself. It wouldn't last. The next second, pain like he had never felt first pierced his body, then wracked it. The beams seemed to have entered his veins, sending volts through his bones and underneath his skin. The pain existed inside and outside of him. There was no way to escape. He screamed, though he felt the energy open his mouth, prompting his vocal chords to respond. He found his limbs flailing, his back arching, the energy controlled his movements, determined how he responded to the pain that it wracked. He had lost all control. He felt the energy that he had gathered as Super Sonic, the energy from the Chaos Emeralds, and the energy that made his own being absorbed, stripped away until the dark energy had overtaken it.

Eggman was wild with glee at what was in front of him. His building the carrier paled to transparency in comparison to the success he had now. This was the accumulation of all that he had hoped: having the power of the Chaos Emeralds in his grasp, seeing the one person who had fought to resist him for so long incapacitated, and power. More power than he could have ever dreamed of or hoped for. At this very moment, he knew that the power was at work, wreaking havoc on the spherical planet below him, and knew that the chaos would not touch him. He owed all of it – well, most of it anyway, to a document that he had found in an ancient temple.

"It was just as the Gaia manuscripts foretold!" Eggman shouted aloud. The carrier was disposable. Knowing he now had the tool that would bring him control of the world in this room was worth thousands of self-sustaining carriers.

It could not have worked out better.

Sonic felt himself flop to the ground. The Chaos energy had been completely sapped away. He could not say that the pain was lessening, but the blinding nothingness, the incapacity for thought that the energy had brought was fading. He felt himself gradually becoming coherent, as though his mind was coming into sharp focus. With that was the realization he was trembling.

No, not trembling. It was as though his something was in motion underneath his skin, ready to break through. Sonic stretched his arm forward, unsure of how to contain the energy. It threatened to take over him, and Sonic wanted nothing released that sought to have complete control over a person.

The energy gave him no choices in the matter. In a series of waves, the energy took over. First in bursting his skin, then in molding his face and limbs, culminating into a roar. Something inside of Sonic felt defeated, exhausted, silenced. The purple energy disappeared from view. The lasers on the ceiling sparked, then stopped completely. Though the energy had dispersed, Sonic could feel some of its after-effects. He felt as though he was carrying a heavy weight, the weight causing him to crouch. His jaw felt strange, his breath ragged. Then he remembered Eggman: he did this to him, whatever it was. He looked up, revulsion and anger causing his words to come slowly.

"You've…really gone and done it this time, Eggman."

Eggman had not seen this coming. Nowhere in the yellowing documents had he read did it say that the Gaia energy had the potential to transform sentients. This could be beneficial to him, he realized. It may provide Sonic the added distraction that he needed. Though Eggman was certain that the earth being broken apart would have taken up Sonic's time enough, what was one more setback? One more thing to prevent Sonic from causing him trouble?

"That's a new look for you, festive!" Eggman remarked, keeping his voice intentionally lighthearted, hoping to incite the frustration in the hedgehog that could no longer hurt him.

Sonic did not know what Eggman was babbling about, and was sure that he didn't care. Fury rose within him like a poison. He wanted to move, to attack. Before he could act on it, he found himself being sucked backward. Eggman had opened the window in the back of the lab. Sonic struggled to grasp onto something, anything. He grabbed onto a section of the floor that had been indented in order to keep the energy beams from the lasers from spilling over. Sonic looked at his hand. The shock at what he saw caused him to lose his grip. Before he could react, before even a semblance of a thought could form in his mind, he found himself being hurled into space, and with the depleted Chaos Emeralds around him, fell to earth.